Stevie J ordered to pay $1.3M in back child support

Stevie J owes $1.3 million in unpaid child support, and while the sum nearly landed him in jail, he will remain a free man as long as he starts paying up.

Judge Paul Crotty said that it would not make sense to jail the “Love & Hip Hop” star as long as he paid the child support debt, which Stevie J has been accumulating since 1999. While Stevie J was initially reluctant to accept the deal, he did… but only because he has no intentions of paying the $1.3 million. Instead, he plans to appeal.

The reality star, who promised the judge prior to sentencing that he was no longer that “careless, reckless, stubborn and cocky” man that he was before, will also be on probation for the next three years, though that time could be shortened if he is able to pay off his debt earlier.

Stevie J was first caught by the federal government in 2014 for failure to pay child support, and his legal case has been dragging on since then. An appeal will only make the case go on longer, and in the meantime, the debt from 1999 on is only going to weigh on him that much more heavily.